DOWNEY >> A wood-and-plastic model that served as the inspiration for NASA’s space shuttle program may soon have another chance to be the center of attention.

The City Council revisited a plan on Tuesday to house a full scale mock-up shuttle — built in 1972 and now owned by the city — at a proposed community center. The council struck down the plan in December and voted to store the shuttle in the city’s maintenance yard. The move to the yard was completed March 6.

Council members decided Tuesday to have its space center subcommittee, consisting of Councilmen Alex Saab and Mario Guerra, determine how much funding to set aside for a yet-to-be-hired executive director for the center. The director will use the money to hire a consultant for the proposed $3 million Inspiration Neighborhood Center. City Manager Gilbert Livas said he hopes to hire an executive director for the space center by July.

Guerra had asked that some funding for the proposed center be added to the 2014-15 budget, arguing that if the city did not act soon, the shuttle would not be accessible to the public.

“I fear that we would put the shuttle inside and not do anything with it,” he said. “I want to bring the shuttle forward. It’s too important a part of our history to not do something.”

Other council members acknowledged the shuttle’s importance and its value as an educational tool, but decided to wait on building the center until an executive director is hired.

Saab said his position on when to fund the project remains unchanged — wait and see.

“We sat with the designer as members of the budget subcommittee,” Saab said to Guerra. “We can’t articulate what this project is going to cost.”

Mayor Fernando Vasquez also urged restraint.

“I won’t support this without an executive director and a plan,” Vasquez said.

The 122-by-78 foot mock-up was built by North American Rockwell, which later became Rockwell International and then part of the Boeing Co. The company later won a NASA contract to build the real space shuttles. In 1999, Rockwell left and the city was interested in keeping the mock-up. NASA gave it to the city and it was in storage for years.

Downey was awarded a $3 million federal loan to build a permanent center for the shuttle mock-up in May 2013. The low-interest Department of Housing and Urban Development loan will help pay for the Inspiration Neighborhood Center, an 18,500-square-foot multipurpose facility that will house the shuttle, along with meeting and office space.